Method for uniform contact of brew ingredient with beverage brew liquid

ABSTRACT

A beverage brewer ( 20 ) with a programmable dispenser cycle dispenser valve controller ( 36 ) for controlling a dispenser valve ( 34 ) to intermittently open and close during a plurality of control periods of an intermittent dispense period ( 88 ) to selectively control the quantity of hot water that is dispensed without changing the overall duration of the dispense period ( 88 ). Each of the control periods (CP 1 -CP 20 ) has a duty portion during which the dispenser valve is open that is selectively varied to brew either greater or lesser amounts of beverage without varying the overall dispense period ( 88 ). Uniform contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredient ( 70 ) is enhanced by a uniform ingredient holder ( 24 ) that holds the ingredient in a tubular configuration beneath a uniform flow dispenser head ( 38 ) that pulses the top of the tubular configuration with a uniform spray.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of and claims under35USC120 the benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/131,992, filed Aug.8, 1998, entitled “Beverage Maker with Intermittent Beverage LiquidDispenser and Apparatus and Method for Uniform Contact of BrewIngredient with Beverage Brew Liquid”, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,717issued Nov. 21, 2003, the contents of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention generally relates to beverage brewers, and methods ofbrewing and, more particularly, to beverage brewers and methods ofbrewing in which the quantity of brewing liquid that is delivered to thebrewing ingredient and the time period during which the brewing liquidis dispensed into a brewing ingredient holder is automaticallycontrolled, and to beverage ingredient filters in which the ingredientis contained during brewing.

2. Discussion of the Relevant Prior Art

The inventor has determined that there is a common problem associatedwith all commercial beverage brewers of the drip-type in which the brewliquid is passed through brewing ingredient. The brewing ingredient isground coffee, ground tea, tea leaves and other like dry beverageingredients. The beverage brewing liquid is generally plain hot waterThe brew ingredients have a residue or structure that contains theessential dry beverage components. When the beverage brewing liquid thatis passed through a layer of the dry beverage ingredient during thedispensing period of the brewing cycle and the post-dispense dripperiod, the dry beverage ingredients are dissolved and released into thebeverage brewing liquid upon contact. The brewing ingredient isgenerally contained within a removable filter that is supported within abrew basket that is movably mounted beneath a brewing liquid dispenser,or dispenser, to receive the hot brewing water. The filter is manuallyloaded with beverage ingredient and then placed in a filter holderwithin the brew basket. Each of the brew basket and the filter holderhas a generally truncated conical shape with sides that slope inwardlyfrom the open top of the brew basket to the beverage dispenser outletthat is located at the bottom of the brew basket.

The problem with this arrangement is that it is not possible to obtain auniform contact of the hot brewing water with the ingredient within thebrew basket during the dispensing period while the hot water is beingdispensed and the subsequent post-dispensing drip period of the brewcycle. In the case of ground coffee, when hot water first makes contactwith the coffee gases are generated that causes the coffee grounds tofoam upwardly and also to float layers of hot water that have not yetseeped through the upper surface of the layer of hot coffee.

The inventor believes that for this reason and because of the generallyconical shape of the layer of beverage ingredient, and despitecontinuous spraying of the hot brewing water across the upper surface ofthe beverage ingredient, some of the ingredient, generally nearer theside walls of the brew basket, does not receive sufficient contact withthe hot water to strip off all the beverage ingredient component to bedissolved into the water that is being held by the beverage ingredient.The beverage ingredient is therefore wasted. Likewise, other portions ofthe beverage ingredient, generally closer to the central portion of thebrew basket receive too much contact with the hot water, ie. morecontact with the water than needed to dissolve all the beverageingredient components, and other undesirable ingredient components aredissolved into the brewed beverage. Consequently, optimum brewing of thebeverage ingredient is not obtained and the brewing ingredient componentthat does not dissolve into the hot water because of insufficient hotwater contact with the associated brewing ingredient is wasted.

Both the time of contact of the hot water with the beverage ingredientand the amount of hot water that is mixed with a given amount ofbeverage are critical to optimizing the quality of the resulting brewedbeverage. Different types of beverage ingredient, such as differenttypes of coffee, and different forms of a given beverage ingredient,such as a given ground coffee of different degrees of coarseness requiredifferent amounts of hot water for optimum brewing of the resultingbeverage. Unfortunately, there is another problem of known beveragebrewers which exacerbates the nonuniform ingredient saturation problemnoted above. The problem is the inability to easily adjust the quantityof hot water that is dispensed without changing the duration of thedispensing time period, and the inability to easily adjust the durationof the dispense period without changing the quantity of hot water thatis to be dispensed.

The truncated conical shape of know beverage ingredient filtersprecludes them from being easily stacked or packaged and accordingly inall known commercial drip-type brewers the conical filters are manuallyloaded with ingredient at the coffee brewing site.

Reference should be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,000,082 entitled “BeverageMaker And Method Of Making Beverage” issued Mar. 19, 1991 and U.S. Pat.No. 5,331,885 entitled “Semiautomatic Beverage Maker And Method” issuedJul. 26,1994 of the present inventor and the patents cited therein, allof which are incorporated herein by reference, for structural,mechanical and other details of the conventional components of coffeebrewers and the like, with reference to the features noted above, and ingeneral with reference to the embodiments described below to the extentconventional elements are disclosed in functional block form only andsuch details are desired.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,508 issued to Knepler et al ofn Dec. 27, 1994 fora “Digital Brewer Control” mechanisms are shown that enable intermittentdispensing of the hot water into the brew basket. However, this is donesolely to slow down the average rate of dispensing, or infusion, of thewater into the brew basket to prevent overflowing the brew basket. Suchoverflowing occurs during continuous dispensing under the specialcircumstances of decaffeinated coffee and soft water that reduces therate of outflow from the brew basket. However, there is nothing tosuggest using such intermittent flow for purposes of obtaining uniformextraction when dealing with different amounts or different types ofcoffee.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is the primary object of the present invention toprovide a beverage brewer and a method of brewing in which theaforementioned problems of known beverage brewers and brewing methodsare overcome.

This objective is achieved in part by providing a beverage brewer with abeverage ingredient holder; and a dispenser assembly with means forautomatically, intermittently, delivering brewing liquid into thebeverage ingredient holder during a dispensing period of a brewingcycle. Preferably the dispenser assembly includes a dispenser valve, anda dispenser valve controller to control the valve for automatically,intermittently, delivering the brewing liquid into the beverageingredient holder during the dispensing period of the brewing cycle.

Preferably, the dispenser valve controller includes means for dividingthe dispensing period into a plurality of dispensing control periods,means for establishing a duty portion for at least some of the pluralityof dispensing control periods, and means for actuating the dispensingvalve to pass the brewing liquid to the beverage ingredient holder onlyduring the preselected duty portion of each of the plurality ofdispensing control periods.

The duty portion establishing means includes means for selectivelycontrolling the duration of the duty portion the plurality of dispensingcontrol periods. Different duty portions for different dispensingcontrol periods of the same dispensing period are established toselectively vary the average flow rate at different segments of thedispensing period. The duty portion controlling means includes means forincreasing the duty portion of each successive dispensing control periodoccurring during the dispensing period. The duty portion controllingmeans also preferably includes means for decreasing the duty period ofeach successive dispensing control period occurring during thedispensing period. Preferably, the dispenser assembly includes acomputer that is programmed to control intermittent delivery of thebrewing liquid to the beverage ingredient holder.

In keeping with another aspect of the present invention, the beverageingredient holder has a brewing liquid receiving opening, and thedispenser includes a dispenser head assembly with a field ofsubstantially uniformly spaced apart dispensing holes of substantiallythe same size located in coextensive overlying relationship with respectto the brewing liquid receiving inlet opening of the beverage ingredientholder and the beverage ingredient holder has a portion for supportingall of the ingredient in a substantially straight tubular configurationwith spaced parallel upper and lower surfaces substantially entirelyoverlain by the field of dispensing holes. Preferably, the ingredientsupport surface is circular and the straight tubular configuration ofthe ingredient portion of the beverage ingredient holder issubstantially cylindrical.

In accordance with another feature of the beverage brewer of theinvention, the beverage brewer has a dispenser head assembly with asubstantially closed body with a field of dispenser holes defining abottom of the body and a top wall spaced oppositely from the field ofdispenser holes supporting a brewing liquid inlet. A stream deflector ismounted in a blocking position between the brewing liquid inlet and thefield of dispenser holes to reduce any uneven pressurization of thefield of holes. A dispenser valve is periodically opened tointermittently fill the dispenser head body with brewing liquid and touniformly force the brewing liquid out of all the dispenser holes undera uniform pressure.

Another advantageous feature of the invention is that the dispenservalve controller includes means for preselecting a length of time forthe dispensing period, and means for selectively varying the totalamount of brewing liquid delivered to the ingredient holder during thedispensing period of preselected length by varying the duration theintermittent periods of delivery during the dispensing period of thebrewing cycle. Preferably, the intermittently delivering means includesmeans for dividing the dispensing period into a plurality of controlperiods each having a duration on the order of fifteen-seconds, andmeans for delivering brewing liquid during a portion of each of thecontrol periods during the dispensing cycle. Preferably, the valvecontroller is a computer.

In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a beverageingredient assembly is provided having a tubular mass of beverageingredient configured into a tube having parallel side walls joined atopposite ends to a continuous planer top and a continuous planer bottomthat are parallel to each other and substantially perpendicular to andcontinuously spanning the parallel side walls and a disposable water andbeverage permeable filter envelope snugly enclosing the tubular mass.Preferably, the tubular mass is configured as a solid cylinder, and thepermeable filter envelope is made of filter paper. The proper tubularshape of the beverage ingredient is thereby maintained while the loadingof the filters is capable of being performed on an automated basis andthen the beverage ingredient assemblies packaged in a vacuum containerin a stacked relationship which is not easily done with truncatedconical shapes of the known brewers.

In accordance with one aspect of the brewing method of the presentinvention independent control of the dispense period and the totalbrewing liquid dispensed by preselecting a dispense time period of abrewing cycle during which brewing liquid is dispensed onto a top of abeverage ingredient layer and automatically selecting a number ofcontrol periods during which beverage liquid is capable of beingdispensed onto a top surface of the beverage ingredient layer inaccordance with the dispense time period that has been selected anddispensing the brewing liquid onto the top surface during at least someof the number of control periods that have been selected. The dutyportion of at least some of the control periods during which the brewingliquid is dispensed onto the top of the beverage ingredient layer ischanged in indirect relationship to any change in the number of controlperiods selected to substantially fix a preselected total amount ofbrewing liquid dispensed during different preselected dispense timeperiods.

Likewise, the method includes the steps o preselecting a total amount tobe dispensed during a dispense period composed of a plurality of controlperiods of a brewing cycle during which brewing liquid is capable ofbeing dispensed onto a top of a beverage ingredient layer, automaticallyselecting a duty portion of at least some of the plurality of controlperiods during which the brewing liquid is capable of being dispensedonto a top surface of the beverage ingredient layer of at least some ofthe control periods in accordance with the total amount to be dispensedthat has been preselected, and dispensing the brewing liquid onto thetop surface during the duty portions of the control periods that havebeen selected. The duty portion of at least some of the control periodsduring which the brewing liquid is dispensed onto the top of thebeverage ingredient layer is directly controlled in indirectrelationship to any change in the number of control periods selected tosubstantially maintain the preselected total amount of brewing liquid tobe dispensed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing advantageous features of the invention will be describedin greater detail and other advantageous features of the invention willbe made apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiment of the beverage brewer of the present inventionthat is given with reference to the several figures of the drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the beverage brewer constructedin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the preferred form of thedispenser valve controller shown as a single functional block diagram inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3A is a side view, partially in cross section, of the uniform flowdispenser head of the dispenser valve assembly shown in functional blockform of FIG. 1 in operative relationship with the open top of apreferred form of the tubular ingredient holder shown in FIGS. 3A and3B;

FIG. 3B is a plan view of the uniform flow dispenser head of FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A is a side view, partially in cross section, of the preferredform of the tubular ingredient holder of FIG. 1 containing a layer ofbrewing ingredient in operative relationship with the uniform flowdispenser head of FIGS. 3A and 3B;

FIG. 4B is a plan view of the tubular ingredient holder of FIG. 4A;

FIG. 4C is a side elevational view, partially in section, of acylindrical embodiment of the beverage ingredient assembly constructedin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4D is a cross sectional, side elevational view of a vacuumcontainer of a plurality of substantially identical beverage ingredientassemblies like that of FIG. 4C packaged for shipping and storage.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are time charts with broken time lines illustrating thepreferred brew cycle of the brewing method of the invention with anintermittent dispense period, and the dispenser valve control periods,respectively;

FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C are time charts with broken lines illustrating threedifferent modes of intermittent operation of the dispenser valve inwhich the on portion, or duty portion, of each of the successive controlperiods during the dispense period remain the same 50%, increase overtime from 20% to 80% and decrease over time from 100% to 20%,respectively;

FIGS. 7A and 7B form a composite general logic flow chart of a computerprogram stored in the program memory of the dispenser valve controllerof FIG. 2 for operating the beverage brewer of FIG. 1 to achieve theoperation shown in FIGS. 5A, 5B, 6A, 6B and 6C and otherwise to performoperations of the beverage brewer in accordance with the brewing methodof the invention;

FIG. 8 is a logic flowchart of the user program mode subroutine of FIG.7 that enables the user to selectively program the brewer to operate inaccordance with different user selectable brewing parameters;

FIG. 9 is a logic flow chart of the brew cycle dispenser valve controlsubroutine of FIG. 7 that controls the dispenser valve of FIG. 1 toachieve intermittent dispensing in accordance with the user inputsentered pursuant to the user program mode subroutine as well as inaccordance with programmable default presets.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the preferred embodiment of the programmableuniform flow beverage brewer 20 includes a programmable uniform flowdispenser assembly 22 that dispenses brewing liquid, generally hot waterwithout any additives and therefore sometimes referred to simply as thehot water, uniformly across a quantity of beverage ingredient, generallyground coffee, ground tea, tea leaves and the like, contained in anopened top uniform flow ingredient holder 24 via a plurality of pulsed,or intermittent, streams 26 of hot water. The hot water makes uniformcontact with the beverage ingredient within the uniform flow ingredientholder and then passes into a brewed beverage container 28, such as amovable insulated serving urn. The programmable uniform flow dispenserassembly 22 includes a brewing liquid supply 30 containing a quantity ofhot water sufficient for several brew cycles for the maximum quantity ofbeverage per brew cycle capable of being brewed by the brewer 10. Thebrewing liquid supply 30 has an open outlet 32 to a dispenser valve 34that is controlled by a programmable dispenser cycle-dispenser valvecontroller, or dispenser valve controller, 36 to intermittently deliverthe hot water from the outlet 32 to a uniform flow dispenser head 38.The dispenser valve 34 operates in accordance with a dispenser valvecontrol signal generated on an output 37 of the dispenser valvecontroller 36 and applied to a control input 33 of the dispenser valve34. The uniform flow dispenser head 38, in turn, delivers theintermittent streams 26 of hot water uniformly across the portion of anopen top 40 of the uniform ingredient holder 24 vertically aligned withthe entire top surface of the beverage ingredient contained within theuniform flow ingredient holder 24.

The uniform flow ingredient holder 24 holds the ingredient in alaterally uniform cross-sectional, tubular form, preferably acylindrical form, in order to obtain a uniform contact of the hot waterwith the beverage ingredient laterally across the surface of thebeverage ingredient and most importantly across ensuing layers of thebeverage ingredient through to the lowest layer of beverage ingredientat the bottom of the beverage ingredient layer.

The uniform contact is achieved primarily by virtue of the tubular layerof the beverage ingredient that is shaped into the tubular configurationby the uniform flow ingredient holder 24. On the other hand, control ofthe dispenser cycle is primarily achieved by virtue of the controlledintermittent passage of the hot water to the uniform flow dispenser head38.

The fact that the passage of hot water is only intermittent enables therate of flow of the dispensing holes of the uniform flow dispenser headto be controlled independently of the size of the holes. In accordancewith the present invention optimum sized dispensing holes are used thatare sufficiently large to avoid clogging due to calcification and thelike while being sufficiently small to enable uniform flow across thesurface of the ingredient layer.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the dispenser valve controller 36 preferablyincludes a microprocessor 42 which generates a valve control signal onan output terminal 44 that is applied to a dispenser valve interfacecircuit 46. The dispenser valve interface circuit amplifies the valvecontrol signal to produce the dispenser valve control signal produced onthe output terminal 37 and applied to the control input 33 of thedispenser valve 34, FIG. 1. The microprocessor 42 generates the valvecontrol signal in accordance with a software program stored in a programmemory 48, described in detail below with respect to FIG. 7, and presetsand other parameters stored in a data memory 50. The microprocessor 42also receives inputs through a manual input interface 52 from a keyboard54 and input switches 56. The microprocessor 42 also provides inputcontrol signals to various status indicators (not shown) through astatus indicator interface 58.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the preferred form of the uniform flowdispenser head 38 is a closed cylindrical cavity 59 defined by acylindrical side wall 60 extending between a closed top 62 that carriesthe central inlet 32 for receipt of the hot water from the brewingliquid supply 30 and a perforated bottom 64. The perforated bottom has afield, preferably a uniform matrix, of dispenser holes 65 for uniformdispensing of the hot water onto the top surface of the layer ofingredient within the uniform flow ingredient holder 24. Located betweenan opening 66 of the inlet 32 and the perforated bottom 64 is a conicaldeflector 68 to block the initial incoming rush of hot water fromimpinging directly upon and thereby unevenly pressurizing the dispenserholes 65 located directly opposite the inlet opening 66.

In accordance with the preferred method of operation of the brewer 20,the inrush of hot water under the force of the head pressure of the hotwater contained within the brewing liquid supply 30, rapidly fills thecavity 59 and thereafter the hot water is dispensed through theplurality of dispenser holes 65 at a uniform head pressure for theremainder of the open portion of the control period. The volume of thecavity 59 is of course only a small portion of the total volume ofbeverage to be brewed and of the volume of the brewed beverage container28.

Preferably, in the case of making several gallons of brewed beverage perbrew cycle, the uniform flow dispenser head has a diameter and thecylindrical side wall 60 has a height to provide the a volume of only afraction of a gallon. The inlet opening 66 and the head pressureprovides an initial flow rate into the uniform dispenser head 38 to fillthe cavity 59 within less than a second at the start of each controlperiod. Thereafter, once the cavity 59 is filled, back pressure isencountered, and the flow rate is determined by the number and size ofthe plurality of dispenser holes 65. The greater the number of and thesmaller the size of the dispenser holes, the more uniform will be theflow across the top surface of the ingredient layer. However, theinventor has determined that in order to minimize clogging problems thedispenser holes 65 should not be too small. On the other hand, theinventor has determined in order to obtain optimum control over the flowrate by virtue of the intermittent dispensing of the hot water during asignificant portion of each of the control periods, the dispensing holesshould not be too big.

Referring to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the uniform ingredient holder 24 holds atubular layer of ingredient 70 beneath the perforated bottom 64 of theuniform ingredient holder 38 for uniform receipt across its top surface72 of the hot water being dispensed. Preferably, the uniform ingredientholder 24 has an open top 73 that is coextensive with both theperforated bottom 64 and the top surface 72 of the layer of ingredient70. Preferably, a bottom 74 of the layer of ingredient 70 is uniformlysupported by an ingredient support screen 76 that supports theingredient while allowing the free flow of brewed beverage downwardlyinto an inwardly tapered drainage section 78 located beneath theingredient support screen 76. The bottom of the tapered drainage sectionterminates with a central brewed beverage drain opening 80. Preferably,the uniform flow ingredient holder 24 has a cylindrical side wall 82extending between the open top 73 and the inwardly tapered drainagesection 78. In such case the tapered section has a conical wall thatextends between the cylindrical wall 82 and the drain opening 80, andthe layer of ingredient 70 is supported in a cylindrical shape by theportion of the cylindrical adjacent and above the ingredient supportscreen 76.

Referring now to FIG. 4C, an embodiment of a beverage ingredientassembly 81 of the present invention is seen in which the mass ofbeverage of the ingredient layer 70 is maintained in a tubularconfiguration, preferably a solid cylindrical configuration, having acyclindrical side wall 83. The cylindrical side wall is joined atopposite ends to a continuous, planer circular top 87 and a continuousplaner circular bottom 89 that are parallel to each other andsubstantially perpendicular to and continuously spanning the cylindricalside wall 83. The ingredient layer 70 is supported in the cylindricalconfiguration by means of a disposable water and beverage permeablefilter envelope 91 having a conforming cylindrical shape and snuglyenclosing the tubular mass 70. The filter envelope is preferablyflexible, permeable filter paper that is disposable. The envelopedtubular mass of ingredient 70 is preferably one of ground coffee, ortea, preferably ground coffee. The filter envelope 91 has a top 93 and abottom 101, also made of filter paper, in which case the envelope isclosed to prevent loss by spillage of any of the beverage ingredient 70.Alternatively, the envelope top 93 is absent, as is explained withreference to FIG. 4D, below, either before or after shipping. With thetop 93 present, the brewing liquid passes through the permeable top 93to reach the top 87 of the mass of ingredient 70.

Referring to FIG. 4D, an embodiment of a beverage ingredient assemblyshipping and storage container 95 is shown in which a plurality ofbeverage ingredient assemblies 70A, 70B and 70C, that are substantiallyidentical to the beverage ingredient assembly 91, are vacuum packed instacked relationship in a snugly conforming vacuum container 97.Preferably, the vacuum container 97 is a metal or airimpervious-plastic, cylindrical container with a removable top 99. Insuch a container 95, spillage is capable of being prevented by havingthe bottom 101 of an upper one of the ingredient assemblies 70A and 70Bserve to close the top of a lower one of the ingredient assemblies 70Band 70C, respectively, during shipping. In this way the filter materialotherwise needed for the top 93 is eliminated and the cost of the filtermaterial saved without the problem of spillage during shipment, for thesnug relationship between the vacuum container 95 and the stackedassemblies 70A, 70B and 70C holds all of the ingredient assembliestogether. Preassembly of the ingredient 70 within the filter envelopesubstantially reduces the manual labor required in known brewers inwhich the filter cones are manually filled with the beverage ingredient.

Referring now to FIG. 5A, in accordance with the brewing method of thepresent invention, the brew cycle 84 is divided into three distinct timeperiods. First, a pre-dispense period, or pre-wetting period, 86 ofapproximately fifteen seconds occurs during which time the top surface72 of the ingredient layer 70 is wetted. In the case of ground coffee,this prewetting allows the gasses that are generated from the initialwetting of the coffee to be released so as not to subsequently interferewith the uniform contact of the hot water with the coffee grounds duringthe subsequent intermittent dispense period that begins at time t1.Next, the intermittent dispense period 88 begins at time t1 andcontinues until a time selectable between time t2′ and time t2, whichare preferably four minutes and five minutes after time t1,respectively. At time t2, or an earlier time between time t2′ and timet2, the intermittent dispensing of hot water is terminated and thepost-dispense period 90 begins and then continues until time t3. Duringthe post-dispense period, or drip period, 90 the last of the hot waterthat was dispensed into the ingredient holder during the intermittentdispense period 88 is allowed to seep through the layer of ingredient 70and drain out through the brewed beverage outlet 80 into the brewedbeverage container 28.

Referring to FIG. 5B, in accordance with the brewing method of theinvention the intermittent dispense period 88 is divided into aplurality of control periods, preferably sixteen to twenty, each ofwhich is preferably fifteen seconds in duration. Thus, when a maximumintermittent dispense period of five minutes occurring between times t1and t2, there are twenty control periods, CP1 through CP20. When theminimum duration of the dispense period 88 occurring between t1 and t2′is selected then there are only sixteen control periods CP1 throughCP16. If the intermittent period 88 is selected to end between times t2′and t2, then appropriate ones of the control periods CP17, C18 and C19eliminated to achieve dispense period durations of 4.25, 4.5 and 4.75minutes.

Referring now to FIGS. 6A, and 6B and 6C, in accordance with thebeverage brewing method of the present invention, during a preselectedportion each of the control periods that constitute the dispense period88, such as control periods CP1 through CP20, only CP1, CP5, CP9, CP13and CP17 being shown, a control signal 92 is generated. A shown in FIG.6A, in one mode of operation, the percentage of each control periodduring which the control signal is generated, or duty portion of eachcontrol period, such as 50%, remains the same throughout the dispenseperiod. In such case, the dispense flow rate remains the same throughoutthe dispense period 88. If it is desired to increase the total flow ratewithout changing the duration of the dispense period 88 and withoutchanging the uniform flow throughout the dispense period 88, then theduty portion of all the control periods is increased proportionately bythe same amount. For instance, presuming the duty portion is 50%, asshown if FIG. 6A, then to increase the total quantity of hot waterdispensed during the dispense period by ten per cent, the duty portionof each of the control periods is increased from 50% to 55%. Likewise,in order to decrease the total amount of hot water dispensed by 20%, forinstance, then the duty portion of each of the control periods isdecreased from 50% to 40%.

Referring to FIG. 6A, the duty portions do not have to be selected to bethe same throughout the dispense period 88. In FIG. 6A, the dutyportions of successive control periods has been selected to increasefrom approximately 20% duty portion of control period CP1 toapproximately 80% for CP17. In such case, the flow rate is not uniformover time but increases during the dispense period 88.

Referring to FIG. 6C, the duty portions of successive control period hasbeen selected to decrease from approximately 100% at control period CP1to approximately 20% at control period CP17. In such case, the flow rateis not uniform over time but decreases over time during the dispenseperiod in order to reduce the duration of the post dispense period.

In accordance with the present invention, the duty portion of each ofthe control periods is individually selectable, and is not limited toany particular flow rate profile.

In order to decrease and-increase the total time of the dispense period88 without changing the total amount that is dispensed, the duty portionof all the control periods is selectively, proportionately increased anddecreased. For instance, if the dispense period is increased from fourminutes to 4.5 minutes, a reduction of 12.5%, then the duty portion ofeach of the control periods is increased by 12.5%.

Preferably, a beverage brewer operating computer program stored in theprogram memory 48 operates in accordance with the composite logic flowchart of FIGS. 7A and 7B. After the program starts at step 94, in step96 a determination is made as to whether full AC brewer power is on. Ifso, then in step 98 the microprocessor 42 runs a self-diagnosticsub-routine to-determine if the brewer is ready to operate. Forinstance, a determination is made as to whether there is sufficient hotwater in the brewing liquid supply 30 and whether the hot water is at apreselected temperature. If everything is not correct for operation,then in step 100 a determination is made to proceed to step 102 at whichan error message is displayed. If everything is ready for operation,then the program moves to step 104 at which ready indicators areactuated and the program advances to step 106. In step 106 adetermination is made as to whether a user program mode has beenselected in which the total time duration of the dispense period 88 isselected and the duty portion of each of the control periods of thedispense period is specified. If the user program mode has beenselected, in order for the user to program the dispense period, then instep 108 a user program subroutine is entered that is explained belowwith respect to FIG. 8 Upon completion of user programming, the programproceeds to junction A and continues to FIG. 7B.

Likewise, if the user program mode has not been selected, the programproceeds to junction A and FIG. 7B.

Turning to FIG. 7B, after junction A, the program proceeds to step 110where a determination is made whether a start brew switch has beenactuated. If the start brew switch has been actuated, the programproceeds to step 112 at which step a brew cycle dispenser valvecontroller subroutine of FIG. 9 is entered and the dispenser valve iscontrolled accordingly. After a determination is made in step 114 thatthe brew cycle has ended, in step 116 the program returns to the start94 of FIG. 7A.

Turning to FIG. 8, the user program mode subroutine begins at start 118,and then proceeds to step 120 at which the current contents of adispenser valve control register in the data memory 50 is displayed toprovide a visual indication of the number of control periods that havebeen selected for the dispenser period 88 and the duty portion of eachof the selected control period. In step 122, a prompt is provided toeither enter the dispenser flow profile that is displayed or to changethe dispenser flow profile. In step 124, if the user selects enter, thenin step 126 the program returns to junction A of FIG. 7A. If not, thenin step 125 the program waits for the next command. If there is a nextcommand, in step 126 the program prompts the user for selection of thetime duration of the dispense period. The user is provided with a promptto select the one of four dispenser period durations of 4, 4.25, 4.5 and5.0 minutes. In step 128, a determination is made as to whether thedispenser period duration has been selected.

If a new dispenser period duration has been selected, then in step 129the duty portions are automatically changed proportionately, indirectlyto maintain the selected total quantity of brewing liquid to bedispensed during the entire dispense period. Then in step 130 a promptis provided to the user to select a dispenser period flow rate profile.This is done by simply selecting one of a plurality of preselected flowrate profiles stored in the data memory 50. Alternatively, the usercreates a new flow rate profile by selecting the duty portion of each ofcontrol periods that compose the dispense period 88. In step 132, adetermination is made as to whether the flow rate profile has beenselected.

After the profile has been selected, then in step 133 a prompt isprovided to select a dispense quantity. If a new total dispense quantityis selected in step 135, then in step 137, the duty portions areproportionately directly changed to achieve the new total quantitywithin the same dispense time period that has been selected. Once theselection is made, the program returns to 120 to display the newlyselected flow rate profile and the user is again prompted in step 122 toeither enter the new selection or to change the profile.

While no time-out steps have been shown, it should be appreciated thatin the event action is not taken by the user at any of the decisionsteps, then after a preselected time out-time period has passed, theprogram proceeds to the next step, and the setting associated with thedecision step remains the same. Also, although not shown, in the absenceof the user selecting any of the control parameters, the program revertsto a default setting.

Referring to FIG. 9, the brew cycle dispenser valve control program,begins with a start step 138 and then proceeds to step 140 at which thebrew cycle is commenced with the opening of the dispense valve for thepre-dispense wetting period 86. Simultaneously, in step 142, a brewcycle clock is started. After the pre-wetting period 86 has ended, instep 144, the dispenser valve control signal is generated in accordancewith the dispense flow rate profile that has been selected in accordancewith the subroutine of FIG. 8. After the dispense period has ended, instep 148 the program proceeds in step 146 back to start 138.

While a particular embodiment has been disclosed, it should beappreciated that many variations may be made thereto without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. Forinstance, while it is preferred to keep the control periods fixed andchange the number of control periods to change the total dispense periodduration, it is also contemplated to change the total length of thedispense period by keeping the number of control periods the same andchanging the length of all of the control periods by the same amount.Likewise, while it is preferred to change the duty portion of each ofthe control periods by changing the time duration of the on portionduring control periods of fixed duration, the duty portion is alsochangeable by changing the duration of the control period whilemaintaining a fixed duration of the on time during each control period.Also, while it is preferred that a microprocessor be used to control thedispenser valve, it should be appreciated that the same functions arecapable of being implemented in an application specific integratedcircuit, discrete circuit, mechanical analogs and the like. While itpreferred that the intermittent dispensing be employed with the uniformflow dispenser head, it should be appreciated that the brewing method ofthe invention that enables controlling flow rate, total amount dispensedand the dispense period duration independently, is capable of beingadvantageously employed with conventional dispenser heads and ingredientholders. Likewise, the advantages of uniform flow obtained by virtue ofthe uniform flow dispenser head and the uniform flow ingredient holderremain extant even in the absence of intermittent dispensing, althoughintermittent dispensing is preferably used in conjunction with theuniform flow dispenser head and ingredient holder.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of brewing a beverage, comprising thesteps of: providing a uniform vertical, parallel spray of brewing liquidevenly across a perpendicular uniform spray path; and holding all theingredient-being brewed in a configuration having a flat top entirelywithin the spray path, a flat bottom that is parallel to and beneath theflat top, and sides that are perpendicular to and extending between theflat top and the flat bottom.
 2. The brewing method of claim 1 in whichthe continuous flat top and the continuous flat bottom are defined bytwo circles of equal diameter to hold the ingredient in a cylindricalconfiguration, and in which the step of providing includes the step ofproviding the spray in spray path that has a circular cross section thatis coextensive with the two circles of equal diameter.
 3. A method ofbrewing a beverage by passing brewing liquid through a beverageingredient, comprising the steps of: providing a substantially uniformvertical, parallel spray of brewing liquid evenly and continuouslydistributed across all of a generally continuous uniform spray path; andholding all the ingredient being brewed in a configuration having asubstantially flat horizontal, continuous top substantially entirelywithin, and substantially coextensive with, the spray path, asubstantially flat, horizontal, continuous bottom that is substantiallyparallel to and located directly beneath the substantially flat top, andsides that are substantially perpendicular to and extending between thesubstantially flat top and the flat bottom, and in which the step ofholding includes the steps of placing all the beverage ingredient withina container made of water permeable filter material, and then placingthe container coextensively within the continuous uniform spray path. 4.A method of brewing a beverage by passing brewing liquid through abeverage ingredient, comprising the steps of: providing a substantiallyuniform vertical, parallel spray of brewing liquid evenly andcontinuously distributed across all of a generally continuous uniformspray path; and holding all the ingredient being brewed in aconfiguration having a substantially flat horizontal, continuous topsubstantially entirely within, and substantially coextensive with, thespray path, a substantially flat, horizontal, continuous bottom that issubstantially parallel to and located directly beneath the substantiallyflat top, and sides that are substantially perpendicular to andextending between the substantially flat top and the flat bottom and inwhich the step of holding includes the step of enveloping all thebeverage ingredient to be brewed in a closed tubular envelope made ofwater permeable filter material having a configuration conforming tosaid configuration of all the ingredient being brewed.
 5. A method ofbrewing a beverage by passing brewing liquid through a beverageingredient, comprising the steps of: providing a substantially uniformvertical, parallel spray of brewing liquid evenly and continuouslydistributed across all of a generally continuous uniform spray path.;and holding all the ingredient being brewed in a configuration having asubstantially flat horizontal, continuous top substantially entirelywithin, and substantially coextensive with, the spray path, asubstantially flat, horizontal, continuous bottom that is substantiallyparallel to and located directly beneath the substantially flat top, andsides that are substantially perpendicular to and extending between thesubstantially flat top and the flat bottom and in which the step ofholding includes steps of mounting an open top of a brew basket in theuniform spray path, and mounting a ingredient holder within the brewbasket and beneath the open top, said ingredient holder holding all theingredient in said configuration and being porous to allow beverage topass through the ingredient holder.
 6. The method of brewing of claim 1in which the step of providing includes the step of passing the brewingliquid through a uniformly perforated surface.
 7. The method of brewingof claim 6 in which the (substantially) uniformly perforated surface isa bottom of a closed dispenser head including side walls extendingbetween a closed top with an inlet for receipt of brewing liquid and theperforated bottom.
 8. A method of brewing a beverage by passing brewingliquid through a beverage ingredient, comprising the steps of: providinga substantially uniform vertical, parallel spray of brewing liquidevenly and continuously distributed across all of a generally continuousuniform spray path by performing steps of passing the brewing liquidthrough a substantially uniformly, continuously perforated surface of abottom of a closed dispenser head.including side walls extending betweena closed top with an inlet for-receipt of brewing liquid to be passedthrough the perforated surface of the bottom, injecting brewing liquidthrough the inlet, and deflecting injected brewing liquid with a spraydeflector located opposite and beneath the inlet between the closed topand the perforated bottom to prevent direct impingement of the injectedbrewing liquid onto the perforated bottom; and holding all theingredient being brewed in a configuration having a substantially flathorizontal, continuous top substantially entirely within, andsubstantially coextensive with, the spray path, a substantially flat,horizontal, continuous bottom that is substantially parallel to andlocated directly beneath the substantially flat top, and sides that aresubstantially perpendicular to and extending between the substantiallyflat top and the flat bottom.
 9. The method of brewing of claim 6 inwhich the step of providing includes a step of selectively andrepetitively completely filling a dispenser head with brewing liquid.10. The method of brewing of claim 7 including a step of placing abeverage container having a minimum volume of sufficient size to holdall the beverage to be brewed from all the brew ingredient that is atleast several times a volume of the dispenser head.
 11. A method ofbrewing a beverage in a beverage maker having a beverage ingredientholder capable of receiving a brewing liquid and holding a beverageingredient with a beverage ingredient top surface area, comprising thesteps of: introducing a volume of brewing liquid evenly across ahorizontal perforated dispensing head with a surface area equal to saidbeverage ingredient top surface area; and dispensing from the dispensinghead a uniform vertical and parallel stream of brewing liquid into saidbeverage ingredient holder and across the entire beverage ingredient topsurface area.
 12. The method of claim 11 wherein said perforateddispensing head is coplanar with said beverage ingredient top surfacearea.
 13. The method of claim 11 wherein said beverage ingredient holderhas vertical sidewalls.
 14. The method of claim 12 wherein said beverageingredient has a flat top surface.
 15. A method of brewing a beverage bymixing hot brewing liquid with a beverage ingredient, comprising thesteps of: delivering a substantially uniform, vertical, parallel sprayof brewing liquid falling, vertically and evenly across a continuous,uniform spray path on an intermittent basis by repetitively rapidlyfilling and maintaining filled for a preselected intermittent period adispenser head, draining brewing liquid from the dispenser head througha plurality of dispensing holes uniformly distributed across a bottom ofthe dispenser head while the dispenser head is being filled, remainsfilled and until drained completely of brewing liquid, repetitivelyallowing the dispenser head to completely drain between periods ofrepetitively filling of the dispenser head to provide controlledinterruptions of delivering of the spray of brewing liquid; and holdingbeverage ingredient in a beverage ingredient holder within a brew basketwith an open top, said ingredient being held in a straight tubularconfiguration having a horizontal top, a horizontal bottom and verticalsides joining the top and the bottom, with the top of the ingredientbeing directly beneath and entirely within the uniform spray path. 16.The method of claim 15 in which the dispenser head is filled within lessthan a second and is maintained filled for approximately five to fifteenseconds.
 17. The method of claim 16 in which the dispenser head isfilled repetitively for approximately four to five minutes.
 18. Themethod of claim 16 including the step of prewetting the beverageingredient prior to repetitively filling of the dispenser head bydelivering a quantity of beverage liquid for a period of approximatelyfive seconds to approximately fourth-five seconds.
 19. The method ofclaim 16 in which after the dispenser head is filled the rate ofdraining the dispenser head is controlled by a pressure head of a sourceof beverage liquid connected to the dispenser head though a valve andincluding the step of maintaining the pressure head substantiallyconstant to maintain a substantially uniform rate of flow of beverageliquid being drained from the dispenser head.
 20. A method of brewing abeverage by passing brewing liquid through a beverage ingredient,comprising the steps of: providing a substantially uniform vertical,parallel spray of brewing liquid evenly and continuously distributedacross all of a generally continuous uniform spray path.; and holdingall the ingredient being brewed in a configuration having asubstantially flat horizontal, continuous top substantially entirelywithin, and substantially coextensive with, the spray path, asubstantially flat, horizontal, continuous bottom that is substantiallyparallel to and located directly beneath the substantially flat top, andsides that are substantially perpendicular to and extending between thesubstantially flat top and the flat bottom, holding the sides withnon-porous material continuously covering the sides to prevent passageof liquid other than through the flat bottom.
 21. The brewing method ofclam 3 in which the continuous flat top and the continuous flat bottomare defined by two circles of equal diameter to hold the ingredient in agenerally cylindrical configuration and in which the step of providingincludes the step of providing the spray in spray path that has acircular cross section that is coextensive with the two circles of equaldiameter.
 22. The brewing method of claim 3 in which the step of holdingincludes a step of enveloping all the beverage ingredient to be brewedin a closed tubular envelope made of water permeable filter materialhaving a configuration conforming to said configuration of all theingredient being brewed.
 23. The method of brewing of claim 5 in whichthe step of holding includes steps of mounting an open top of a brewbasket in the uniform spray path, and mounting a ingredient holderwithin the brew basket and beneath the open top, said ingredient holderholding all the ingredient in said configuration and being porous toallow beverage to pass through the ingredient holder.
 24. The method ofbrewing of claim 3 in which the step of providing includes the step ofpassing brewing liquid through a substantially uniformly continuouslyperforated surface.
 25. The method of brewing of claim 24 in which thesubstantially uniformly perforated surface is a bottom of a closeddispenser head including side walls extending between a closed top withan inlet for receipt of brewing liquid for passage to the perforatedbottom.
 26. The method of claim 25 in which the step of providingincludes the steps of injecting brewing liquid through.the inlet, anddeflecting injected brewing liquid with a spray deflector locatedopposite and beneath the inlet between the closed top and the perforatedbottom to prevent direct impingement of the injected brewing liquid ontothe perforated bottom.
 27. The method of brewing of claim 24 in whichthe step of providing includes a step of selectively and repetitivelyfilling a dispenser head with brewing liquid.
 28. The brewing method ofclaim 4 in which the continuous flat top and the continuous flat bottomare defined by two circles of equal diameter to hold the ingredient in agenerally cylindrical configuration and in which the step of providingincludes the step of providing the spray in spray path that has acircular cross section that is coextensive with the two circles of equaldiameter.
 29. The brewing method of claim 4 in which the step of holdingincludes a step of enveloping all the beverage ingredient to be brewedin a closed tubular envelope made of water permeable filter materialhaving a configuration conforming to said configuration of all theingredient being brewed.
 30. The method of brewing of claim 4 in whichthe step of holding includes steps of mounting an open top of a brewbasket in the uniform spray path, and mounting a ingredient holderwithin the brew basket and beneath the open top, said ingredient holderholding all the ingredient in said configuration and being porous toallow beverage to pass.through the ingredient holder.
 31. The method ofbrewing of claim 4 in which the step of providing includes the step ofpassing brewing liquid through a substantially uniformly continuouslyperforated surface.
 32. The method of brewing of claim 31 in which thesubstantially uniformly perforated surface is a bottom of a closeddispenser head including side walls extending between a closed top withan inlet for receipt of brewing liquid for passage to the perforatedbottom.
 33. The method of claim 32 in which the step of providingincludes the steps of injecting brewing liquid through the inlet, anddeflecting injected brewing liquid with a spray deflector locatedopposite and beneath the inlet between the closed top and the perforatedbottom to prevent direct impingement of the injected brewing liquid ontothe perforated bottom.
 34. The method of brewing of claim 31 in whichthe step of providing includes a step of selectively and repetitivelyfilling a dispenser head with brewing liquid.
 35. The brewing method ofclaim 5 in which the continuous flat top and the continuous flat bottomare defined by two circles of equal diameter to hold the ingredient in agenerally cylindrical configuration and in which the step of providingincludes the step of providing the spray in spray path that has acircular cross section that is coextensive with the two circles of equaldiameter.
 36. The brewing method of claim 5 in which the step of holdingincludes a step of enveloping all the beverage ingredient to be brewedin a closed tubular envelope made of water permeable filter materialhaving a configuration conforming to said configuration of all theingredient being brewed.
 37. The brewing method of claim 5 in which thestep of holding includes a step of enveloping all the beverageingredient to be brewed in a closed tubular envelope made of waterpermeable filter material having a configuration conforming to saidconfiguration of all the ingredient being brewed.
 38. The method ofbrewing of claim 5 in which the step of providing includes the step ofpassing brewing liquid through a substantially uniformly continuouslyperforated surface.
 39. The method of brewing of claim 38 in which thesubstantially uniformly perforated surface is a bottom of a closeddispenser head including side walls extending between a closed top withan inlet for receipt of brewing liquid for passage to the perforatedbottom.
 40. The method of claim 39 in which the step.of providingincludes the steps of injecting brewing liquid through the inlet, anddeflecting injected brewing liquid with a spray deflector locatedopposite and beneath the inlet between the closed top and the perforatedbottom to prevent direct impingement of the injected brewing liquid ontothe perforated bottom.
 41. The method of brewing of claim 38 in whichthe step of providing includes a step of selectively and repetitivelyfilling a dispenser head with brewing liquid.
 42. The brewing method ofclaim 20 in which the continuous flat top and the continuous flat bottomare defined by two circles of equal diameter to hold the ingredient in agenerally cylindrical configuration and in which the step of providingincludes the step of providing the spray in spray path that has acircular cross section that is coextensive with the two circles of equaldiameter.
 43. The brewing method of claim 20 in which the step ofholding includes a step of enveloping all the beverage ingredient to bebrewed in a closed tubular envelope made of water permeable filtermaterial having a configuration conforming to said configuration of allthe ingredient being brewed.
 44. The brewing method of claim 20 in whichthe step of holding includes a step of enveloping all the beverageingredient to be brewed in a closed tubular envelope made of waterpermeable filter material having a configuration conforming to saidconfiguration of all the ingredient being brewed.
 45. The method ofbrewing of claim 20 in which the step of holding includes steps ofmounting an open top of a brew basket in the uniform spray path, andmounting a ingredient holder within the brew basket and beneath the opentop, said ingredient holder holding all the ingredient in saidconfiguration and being porous to allow beverage to pass through theingredient holder.
 46. The method of brewing of claim 20 in which thestep of providing includes the step of passing brewing liquid through asubstantially uniformly continuously perforated surface.
 47. The methodof brewing of claim 46 in which the substantially uniformly perforatedsurface is a bottom of a closed dispenser head including side wallsextending between a closed top with an inlet for receipt of brewingliquid for passage to the perforated bottom.
 48. The method of claim 47in which the step of providing includes the steps of injecting brewingliquid through the inlet, and deflecting injected brewing liquid with aspray deflector located opposite and beneath the inlet between theclosed top and the perforated bottom to prevent direct impingement ofthe injected brewing liquid onto the perforated bottom.
 49. The methodof brewing of claim 46 in which the-step of providing includes a-step,ofselectively and repetitively filling a dispenser head with brewingliquid.